The Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) vision is to be the leader in using the state's natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina. Our mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state's history, conserving the state's natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.
In keeping with the legislation that created North Carolina Office of Archives and History (then the North Carolina Historical Commission) in 1903, the mission of the Historical Research Office (HRO) is to foster, promote, and encourage study and appreciation of state history through research and writing. The mission has several components, among them fact-finding, explication, story-telling, and commemoration, all in service to the collective memory of North Carolinians. Key to the dissemination of sound, clearly communicated stories about the state's past is reaching audiences on their own terms. The challenge is to serve audiences across a variety of platforms, print and digital, including books and pamphlets, markers and plaques, websites, social media, and various forms of mass communication, while maintaining high professional and editorial standards.
The HRO coordinates research and vetting for historical accuracy of written materials produced by various offices of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DCR), including its own Division, Historical Resources, as well as the Divisions of State History Museums and State Historic Sites. Within the HRO rest several established programs or initiatives including the publications function of the agency, which extends back to 1907, when the first title appeared. The HRO edits the North Carolina Historical Review, among the nation's premier historical quarterlies, founded in 1924, and the Civil War Roster, a multi-volume inventory of all of the state's Confederate and Union troops. Two other statutorily-mandated projects include the Colonial Records and Governors' Papers projects (NC GS 121-6(b),(c)).
The Historical Research Office was created in 2014 upon the merger of the former Historical Publications Section and the Research Branch of the Office of Archives and History. Presently the Publications Branch within the HRO is comprised of four positions, those being an editor dedicated to the North Carolina Historical Review; a designer dedicated to print projects; and two editors dedicated to the Civil War Roster.
The new legislatively-created position of Digital Editor: Colonial Records builds upon the fifty-plus years of work by the Colonial Records Project, principally the twelve volumes of the New Series of The Colonial Records of North Carolina. With this hire, that series, and additions to the venerable set of published works, will move to an online, more accessible platform. It is not contemplated at this point, but print editions could be developed from the online platform and the documents identified and annotated by this position.

Description of Work:The work entailed in the position of Digital Editor: Colonial Records will not involve mass or wholesale digitization. Rather, the person hired will be expected to exercise judgment required to create and curate publicly accessible online web-based platforms, that is, to select primary sources, to research and explicate said materials, to create metadata as appropriate, and to prepare accompanying interpretive texts and make said sources, metadata, and interpretive texts available through the Internet.

Primarily, in addition to other duties as assigned:Select and arrange documents thematically. Work, over the fifty-year history of the project, has gone toward this end but the person hired will be expected to approach existing files with fresh eyes and a familiarity with the most recent historical literature and interpretations. The position may supervise a part-time scanning technician.

Develop and manage digital content under the banner of "The Colonial Records of North Carolina" that presents the primary sources (with a digitized image where possible), an accompanying transcription, metadata as appropriate, indexing, and documented (footnoted) companion essays, varying in length from expanded cutline to lengthy narrative. Arrangement and description, key to the work of archivists on related projects, will be a part of this effort. Beyond that explication should bring to the online audience a nuanced and detailed understanding of the subject. Incumbent uploads said content into digital content management platform for web access.

Public outreach: Engage in public outreach activities, including acting as liaison to the Carolina Charter Corporation, the nonprofit organization that advocated for creation of the Colonial Records Project; and planning new initiatives to promote interest in colonial history, to include but not be limited to symposia, public events, and digital offshoots related to but not primarily based upon colonial primary source material. The latter should include audio and video files suitable for presenting to the public on the website. The work will also extend to correspondence with and/or partnership with scholars of colonial history. Outreach to promote the work, particularly to students and the general public, will be expected.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities / Competencies

**To receive credit for your work history and credentials, you must provide the information on the application form. Any information omitted from the application form, listed as general statements, listed under the text resume section, or on an attachment will not be considered for qualifying credit. **

Ability to recognize immediately and without exception writing that is not clearly and correctly set forth.

Ability to produce finished copy, subject to supervisor's review.

Ability to read cursive handwriting of the Colonial Period.

Management Preference:Candidates with experience with American Colonial and British history of the Eighteenth Century.Minimum Education and Experience Requirements

A master's degree in history or related field and two years of experience in a profession requiring research and/or editing as a major job skill; or an equivalent combination of training and experience.